Products affixed with the
Certification Mark, have been found to be compliant with the
applicable standard(s) for the specific product type. These product
have undergone industry set safety and performance requirements.
Product found to be compliant with the national Canadian product
safety standards (ex. CSA) are identified with the "c" located at 8
o'clock on

LabTest certification marked.
Products found to be compliant with the national USA product safety
standards (ex. UL) are identified with the
"us" located at 5 o'clockon the LabTest certification mark

What is CE marking?

The
CE
mark is a mandatory European marking for certain product groups to
indicate conformity with the essential health and safety
requirements set out in European Directives. The letters 'CE' are an
abbreviation of Conformit Europenne, French for European
conformity. The CE mark must be affixed to a product if it falls
under the scope of the approx. 20 so called 'New Approach'
Directives. Without the CE marking, and thus without complying with
the provisions of the Directives, the product may not be placed in
the market or put into service in the fifteen member states of the
European Union and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. However, if
the product meets the provisions of the applicable European
Directives, and the CE mark is affixed to a product, these countries
may not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing in the market or
putting into service of the product. Thus, CE marking can be
regarded as the products trade passport for Europe.

The CE mark is not a quality-mark. First, it refers to the safety
rather than to the quality of a product. Second, most quality
markings are voluntary opposite to the CE marking, which is
mandatory for the products it applies to. CE indicates conformity
with mandatory European safety requirements. European conformity is
certified by following clear and understandable procedures, the
so-called conformity assessment procedures.

Why CE marking?

The European CE certification procedure has been mainly set up to:

1.Harmonize all varying national regulations for consumer and
industrial products in European Member States, so that the Single
Market is encouraged;

2.Bring about cost savings for producers;

3.Enhance the safety of products;

4.Supply public bodies with a uniform procedure that can be
checked.

Formerly, product requirements and test procedures were set by the
Member States of the EU. This meant that, for example, companies
that wanted to sell their products on the European market sometimes
had to deal with more than ten different technical requirements or
procedures for just one product. The existence of all the different
national legislation was contrary to the aim of the European Union
in realizing one Single Market, in which there would be a free
circulation of goods (as well as a free circulation of persons,
services and capital).

All the different product requirements brought many costs for the
producers. With the help of the CE Directives or 'New Approach'
Directives, the measures have been optimized by setting up European
(European-wide) requirements, the harmonization of national
legislation and directives, standards and mutual recognition of the
technical standards, tests methods (compliance tests) and test
laboratories, so that producers no longer need to adapt their
products to the different markets.

During the process of harmonization the safety level of all products
was attuned and raised. In most European countries, safety and
health had already been the subject of directives for many years but
the safety level was not always satisfactory.

With the help of the conformity assessment procedures, the
authorities can ascertain that the products that are placed on the
market comply with the requirements as stated in the regulations of
the directives. The CE marking is consequently largely for the
benefit of the authorities. However, safe products are also
necessary for the end user in the work or consumer environment.

The steps of the CE marking and CE certification procedure

Before the CE marking may be affixed to a product, the essential
requirements of the applicable European Directive must be met.
Moreover, the conformity of the product must be proved by following
a testing and/or certification procedure. Besides some
administrative steps this can mean that a risk analyses must be
performed or that the compliance must be tested in a laboratory.

The CE marking must be affixed to the product, to its data plate or,
where this is not possible or not warranted due to the nature of the
product, to its packaging, if any, and to the accompanying documents
by the manufacturer, the authorized representative in the Community
or, in exceptional cases, by those responsible for placing the
product on the market. The CE marking must be affixed visibly,
legibly and indelibly. Where special provisions do not impose
specific dimensions, it must have a height of at least 5
millimeters.